Under one banner
by Berathoralghoul
Summary: Thrown two hundred years into the futura. Nora must decide if she wants to rebuild the world as it was, or create a new one from the ashes up
1. Chapter 1

Nora dropped to her knees coughing causing blood to spatter the floor. Apparently the thawing process wasn't as perfected as the freezing process. The little oversight had caused a couple of blood vessels in her mouth to pop upon exiting her cryostasis pod. While it was a bit uncomfortable. Nora hoped that was the extent of the side effects of Vault 111.

Picking herself up off the floor. She tried to ignore the sounds of the evacuation siren. Moving to her husband Nate's pod. She placed her small pale hand on the glass. Tracing a delicate finger over the outline of his face. "Don't worry Nate. I'm gonna find who did this, and I'm gonna make them pay." Nora vowed as she walked away from his temporary tomb.

She hoped that it wouldn't be long before she could come back, and bury her husband with the honors due his life. However there was no time for that now. First she had to get outside, and find out how much the world had changed in the who knows how long since they had been under ground.

Opening the doors. Nora began her journey towards the Vault's exit. "Shit." She muttered as the direct door to the exit refused to open. "Guess I'll have to go around." She sighed opening the side door.

As she journeyed through the Vault. Nora found a security baton lying on one of the sealed crated. Picking it up she inspected the collapsable weapon. "Can't be much different than swinging a softball bat." She mused remembering her time on the softball team in college.

It had been where she had first met Nate. He worked the concession stand during games to make money while his GI bill paid for his schooling. Most of her upper middle class, and high class friends had frowned on her associating with a low class scholarship student. Nora had waved them off. Enjoying Nate's sense of humor, and duty to his country.

They had started dating mid way through the season, and had been married shortly before he was deployed to the frontlines to fend off the Chinese invaders in Alaska. They had spent a passionate night in the park the evening before he shipped out. That night had resulted in Shaun's conception.

Nate had been ecstatic. Writing in his letters home how he couldn't wait for the war to be over, and come home to help raise their family.

Nora sighed as she pulled herself out of her thoughts. Reminiscing about the past wouldn't help her any here. For now she needed to focus on surviving. She needed to find her way out of here, and find her son.

She found her way into the Overseer's office. Along the way she had spotted the corpses of what looked to be giant roaches. "The radiation in the air must have mutated them." She mused, as she picked up the pistol off the desk. "if radiation did that to roaches. There's no telling what it's done to the other animals." She said attaching the holster to her Vaultsuit.

Grabbing the satchel from the under the desk. Nora loaded the stimpacks from the desk into the main pocket. Logging into the Overseer's terminal. Nora decided to do some digging on what Vaulttec was really doing.

The logs stated that the company was conducting a social experiment on the effects of cryostasis on the human psychology. She also found that the company had stored what was called a Garden of Eden Creation Kit in the Vault. It was meant for the Vault Dwellers to reclaim the surface after the incident.

Looking through the information available. Nora found that the crate was stored in the security room alongside the weapons the Vualttec kept for any unforeseen threats. Using the Overseer's terminal. Nora looked unlocked the door next to her. Which apparently contained all the weapons the Vault had.

Inspecting the room she found a pump action shotgun, several boxes of shells, a ammo belt with three grenades attached to it, several boxes of 10mm shells, three empty magazines, and the G.E.C.K which was placed on a rolling cart.

Grabbing hold of the cart. Nora began pushing it toward the exit. Luckily her hair tie had survived the thawing too. Having her long red hair in her face would be a real nuisance right now.

The rest of her journey to the surface was uneventful. Though she did happen to find a working Pipboy lying on one of the scientist's skeletons. It came in handy as it was the only way to open the door leading into the Vault.

Once she reached the surface. Nora found that her town lie in ruins. From atop the hill she could see that only a handful of houses had stayed standing. Though they weren't necessarily houses more along the lines of termites holding hands.

Venturing down into the old neighborhood. Nora spotted something she never thought she'd see again. Codsworth scrubbing the walls of her old home. "Codsworth is that you?" She called out as she reached the street corner.

The machine turned around whiring slightly. "Mum is that you?" He asked moving closer. "Oh thank the maker it is you mum." The robot exclaimed happily. The two went into a conversation involving Shaun's whereabouts, Nate's murder, and her new surroundings. Codsworth informed her about the new threats of the Commonwealth.

The new factions that had arisen in her absence. He didn't know much about the outside world. As he only traveled to Concord on occasion for Mr. Handy fuel. However some of the local terminals did turn up logs. Stories of raiders, a mercenary group called the Gunners, things called Super Mutants, and Ghouls.

Nora had a thought on what the Super Mutants may be. She had snuck a peak at Nate's files one night. Apparently the military had been working on something called the Forced Evolutionary Virus. Apparently it had been designed to create super soldiers to combat the Chinese.

The early experiments had failed resulting in mutated mindless killing machines. Nora didn't know how they were still alive. According to the reports the Mutants were sterile. They couldn't reproduce normally. So how could they still be around.

Nora decided it was best to get some kind of training, before leaving Concord. Luckily Nate had snuck one of the Mr. Gutsy combat processors out of the National Guard post, before he had assembled Codsworth. He had put it in for home protection when he was at drill, or deployed.

Codsworth had advised Nora to work on constructing a bed, while he worked on setting up a training station for her to practice with her new pistol. The shotgun was a lot easier. More, or less point center mass, and pull the trigger. The pistol took a bit more Nora would have to pick up quick if she wanted to find her son.

So under Codsworth's instruction. Nora began practicing on empty milk, and Nuka Cola bottles. Her aim wasn't atrocious in so many words, but it seemed she lacked the ability to use iron sights. Thinking quickly Codsworth gathered the necessary material, and instructed Nora on how to build a circle reflex sight.

After the new attachment was built. Nora had a much easier time firing the weapon. Most of her shots hit. Which meant she could hit a person from a decent length away. While she hoped it wouldn't come to that. What she heard about the Commonwealth reinforced the thought that death was a daily thing in the area.

Seeing as how Codsworth didn't need to sleep. Nora had instructed him to begin scraping the ruined houses, and using whatever salvageable parts he found to repair her own. While she didn't plan to stay sedentary. She knew the importance of having a base of operations. While the Vault was sturdy. Nora didn't want to rely on the relic elevator to always work.

Codsworth was more than ecstatic to begin working on the repairs. He seemed most happy to simply have someone to serve again. He had even managed to find Nora a sealed can of pork, and bean alongside a sealed container of water.

Luckily for Nora the G.E.C.K contained a terraforming device. It needed to be planted roughly a foot in the ground, but once planted would begin absorbing the radiation from the surrounding area. The container also provided a stash of seeds to grow new crops, a ballistic vest, a kevlar helmet, and several military manuals.

Nora decided to begin studying the tactics manual while she ate dinner. Codsworth had helped her in planting the terraforming device by the river before hand. Nora had also found that a popular weapon in the waste was the pipe weapon. Crudely fashioned into a pistol or rifle. It fired a .38 caliber round at a less effective range, accuracy, and velocity than an actual ,38.

Nora sighed as the sun began to set over the horizon. It seemed that her reading light was about to fade. Luckily Codsworth had the sense to repair her bedroom first. Even miraculously finding a pair of intact shutters to put over her window. It would do best if no one knew she was here at the moment. Even with Codsworth patrolling the premises. It wasn't impossible for someone to get the drop on her if they knew what to look for.

Leaving those thoughts for the morning. Nora unzipped her Vaultsuit, and stripped naked for the night. Using two of the intact coat hangers to let her garments air out overnight. If she remembered right there was a general store in Concord, With any luck there may still be some powdered laundry soap left to scavenge.

She'd make a note to look around for any spare clothing when she came back. From what Codsworth had told her. The people of the waste used Nuka Cola caps as currency. Since they were considered rare, and hard to counterfeit without the right equipment. With any luck she could find some in the morning, before leaving town. If nothing else they might buy her a place to stay for the night.

Morning soon came, and Nora had struggled to get any sleep. She chalked it up to the cryostasis fucking with her internal clock. Climbing out of bed Nore put her clothes back on, before venturing outside.

Codsworth bid her good morning, before entering the bedroom to power down into rest mode for a couple of hours to do his standard maintenance check. Deciding it was best to wait for him to re awaken, before leaving town. Nora began her search of the surrounding neighborhood. Checking rooms, and sidewalks for any kind of caps that might be lying around.

By the time Codsworth had re awaken. Nora's search had yielded two stimpacks, fifteen caps, eight bobby pins, and a double barreled shotgun from a body at the edge of town. She figured if nothing else it would make a decent trading tool later on.

Bidding the robot farewell. Nora began her journey into Concord. If she remembered right there was a Red Rocket truck stop down the street from her neighborhood. It may be worth searching for supplies.

Spotting the truck stop she saw what looked to be a beautiful German Shepherd. When he caught sight of her he bound toward her wagging his tail happily. "Hey there boy." She smiled rubbing his head. The dog barked happily in response. "Wanna come with me?" She asked smiling. The dog yipped licking her cheek. "Well alright then. Let's get going." She smiled standing.

As Nora stood she heard the sound of rumbling under the ground. The dog seemed to pick up on this as he barred his fangs growling lowly. Nora responded by drawing her pistol. From beneath the surface something emerged. It looked like a mutated rat. Hairless, with large fangs, and the size of a small dog.

It ran toward Nora. On instinct she raised the weapon. When she had the sights lined up with it's torso she fired. The bullet struck the creature in the back causing it to drop. Nora thought it was over until several more sprang up from the ground.

The dog charged forward digging it's fangs into one of them. Nora followed suit firing her pistol into two of them. They gave a sickening squeal as they fell to the ground. Once they fell Nora looked around for another enemy. The dog seemed to know there wasn't anyone nearby, as he was wagging his tail smiling happily.

* * *

 **Well that's chapter one. Chapter two should be out in a few days. If you like the story and wanna help me start writing fanfiction full time. You can donate to my barragemag**

 **The paring for this story hasn't been set, so if you've got any suggestions I'm all ears.**


	2. Chapter 2

Nora had decided to take her time at the Red Rocket, and had used the cooking station behind the store to smoke the meat she had obtained from the Mole Rats. Feeding her new found companion his portion of the meat. Nora stashed the rest of it away in her satchel for later. Inside the gas station she found a unopened pack of cigarettes, and a flip lighter with some fuel left in it. Given the life expectancy in the wasteland she decided 'fuck it' was the appropriate phrase for the Surgeon General, and lit a cigarette.

Outside of the gas station she found what looked to be the body of a man. His throat had been slashed wide open. Nora could only guess that he was the unfortunate victim of the creatures that had attacked her moments ago. Searching through his remains she found what she guessed was a pipe pistol, a twelve round magazine of .38 rounds, five bottlecaps, and his clothing which consisted of long johns, and leather bracers.

Strapping on the leather bracers, Nora attached the pipe pistol holster to her left hip. In the event she ran out of 10 mm, and shotgun rounds she'd at least have the pistol to fall back on. Not only that, but with pipe pistols apparently being the most common weapon in the Commonwealth she was sure she'd find more ammunition for the weapon lying around than anything else. Her best bet now was to make it into Concord, and see if anyone there had spotted the man with the scar that had taken her son.

As she walked through the streets of Concord Nora heard the distinct sounds of gunfire in the distance. Instinct told her to avoid the area, but honor, and integrity told her to move towards the sounds of Chaos. Her body moved on it's own as she ran towards the gunshots.

Spotting men in similar dress to the man she had found at the gas station. Nora was witness to one of the many dangers the Wasteland had to offer, a raider attack. One of the Raiders turned to fire at her. Nora lifted her gun, aimed her reflex sight at the man, and pulled the trigger. Her round flew true, and landed in the man's chest knocking him back. Nora saw the man go to raise his pistol again, and fired a second round. This one causing the man to fall to the ground.

The shots caused the nearby Raiders to turn, and spot the woman who had killed their comrade. Sure Raiders didn't really have a sense of loyalty, but another dead crew member meant more work for them when it came to clearing the Settlers inside the building. Luckily the man on the balcony was providing covering fire causing the Raiders to split their attention between her, and him.

Nora took this opportunity, and dove behind a nearby car for cover as she continued to fire. Noticing the corpse of the man she had just killed. She spotted his pipe rifle laying next to him discarded, and forgotten. Picking it up Nora used the rifle which thankfully had a crudely made sight on it to fire at the raiders on the other end of the street.

Her new companion for his part had taken to ripping flesh from bone with his bare teeth. Something she was both proud of, and appalled by at the same time. When the last Raider fell to his fangs the dog trotted back to her, the same happy grin plastered on his face. 'Deranged little psycho.' Nora thought to herself as she began looting the bodies. When she got close to the entrance of what used to be Concord's musuem of freedom Nora heard the man on the balcony yell to her. "Ma'am there are civilians still inside, and the raiders are banging at the door. Grab that laser musket, and help us please!" He pleaded.

She had come this far she wasn't about to give up on these people now. Picking up the odd weapon Nora moved inside. Making sure to keep her 10mm at the ready. Sure the laser musket as the man had called it may have been a energy weapon, but A Nora didn't know how to use it, and B inside she would be facing close quarters combat. Meaning it would be easier to maneuver her side arm rather than her main weapons.

Once inside the building Nora was met with sporadic fire. Taking a graze to her left shoulder. Nora dove behind a display case for cover, and returned fire. However unlike her opponents Nora decided to take the extra second to aim her shots. Allowing her to hit her mark, and conserve ammunition.

The battle for Concord was over about as soon as it had begun. With Preston Garvy's 'Minutemen' winning the day, and Nora gaining a set of T-45 power armor, and a minigun as a result. Nora had offered to show them the way to sanctuary, and to help them establish a form of government once there. After all there was no use defending the land if there were no consequences for breaking the law, or a law to break in the first place.

After much debate, and persistence on the side of Preston, Mamma Murphy, and Sturges. Nora had agreed to the role of first Empress of the Empire of the Commonwealth. The group had spent the next several hours doctoring up a list of laws, and fitting punishments for breaking those laws. Nora had put Sturges in charge of building a radio station at the edge of town. Similar to Diamond City Radio it would play halo tapes that they had salvaged from Concord, and Sanctuary while also talking about the Empire, and the great things it was doing.

Nora had found out that Vault Tech had planned for their clients to be stuck in a rad infested wasteland. So while the occupant of Vault 111 had been sleeping. They had been injected with a serum to make the mens 'members' grow the longer they were exposed. They would also absorb the radiation from the surrounding area, and turn it into sperm to help increase male fertilization. The females would have the same effect with their breast. They would also become more fertile, and gain a higher sex drive. It also had the effect of slowing down, and even reversing the aging process depending on how many rads someone took on.

Marcy the only other female in the group, besides Nora, and Mamma murphy. Volunteered to take a dose of the serum, and run a twenty cap glory hole booth next to the radio station. Granted she got to keep fifteen of the caps per customer. The other five caps would be funneled into the Empire's government fund. Marcy would keep track of the number of clients who would deposit their caps through the hole, and into the bucket below using a pencil, and paper attached to the wall.

Mamma murphy had agreed to the serum as well, but said she wanted to wait to help Marcy until the serum had reversed her age a couple of decades. Nora had agreed, and suggested starting a brothel once enough volunteers had shown up. She also wanted to save a few vials so that once they tracked down a chemist, even if it was a chem maker they could have him, or her reverse engineer the serum to mass produce it.

Once the group had agreed on their layout Sturges went to work setting up the radio station in the trailer outside the vault. The glory hole booths would be set up outside the gate. Giving them privacy, but keeping them in view of his security camera should anything happen. Preston had begun setting up defense turrets to keep raiders out. Nora thought the raiders would come anyway. If not to loot, than at least for the cheap release. Nora thought of it as a good way to gather information. She had begun sketching the man from the vault, and was going to put up wanted posters with a reward for information leading to his arrest.

June soon found himself hard at work helping Codsworth prepare for the new arrivals. Most of the houses were converted into apartments whose keys were at city hall, or the house with all the work benches out front. The ruined houses on either side of city hall had been salvaged, and replaced with small shops that had 'for rent' signs on them. The ruined house in the back of town had been salvaged, and turned into a restaurant. The final ruined house was turned into a small motel for visitors.

Nora, Marcy, and Mamma Murphy had spent their off time while they waited for the radio to get up, and running swimming in the river. Allowing themselves to become sponges for the radiation that plagued the water. Marcy being the most petite of the three was the first to see any changes. Her breast had gone from being borderline B-cups to solid D-cups in about two hours of being in the lake. Her makeshift bikini finally giving way to the size of her bust. Marcy didn't seem to mind. "I'm gonna be sucking guys off for a living pretty soon. May as well get used to flaunting myself around.

Nora was the next to see results. Her already mid C-cup breast expanding to a DD-cup. Luckily she had the presence of mind to wear a bikini that was a couple of sizes too big for her. When Mamma murphy didn't get any results Nora got a idea. "The terraforming device condenses the radiation into a small canister about the size of a thermus. It's supposed to be properly disposed of by Vault Tech technicians only. I bet if we each drank a third of it though it would speed things up."

The other two women looked at each other, before Mamma Murphy shrugged. "Can't be any worse than the chems I already use. Let's go for it." Wanting to see where this would go Marcy agreed to the idea.

As Nora opened the canister Mamma Murphy agreed to go first. Using a coffee cup as a measuring cup. Nora poured the liquid into the container, before handing it to the elderly woman. As she drank Nora, and Marcy saw the transformation before their eyes. Her spine straightened bringing her to her full height of five foot six, Her skin smoothend freeing itself of the wrinkles caused by time, and chems, her eyes regained their youthful gleam, and finally her bust started to expand. When she stood at her full height she was originally a high B-cup, but that quickly changed, and like Marcy her bikini top all but exploded. As her breast grew to a pair of Perky E-cups. She had retained her silver hair, but it had regained its youthful shine.

Nora, and Marcy each drank their own cup fulls. Theirs however didn't have age reversing effects. Instead it only succeeded in making both women hornier, and increasing their bust size. Nora's being a high G-cup, and Marcy being a high F-cup. Marcu was a bit jealous of Nora, but was happy to have her breast grow somewhat. She loved June, but the man was a shadow of his former self. Sure the death of their son had hit them both hard, but June had all but shut down turning into little more than a zombie. Hell he had to be forced to help with the reconstruction.

Marcy had decided that was the reason for her being angry all the time. She was angry because he used their son's death as an excuse to give up all motivation. She decided to focus her energy on supporting the woman who was helping her through her anger. Nora had sat, and talked with her. She had told Marcy about the death of her husband, and her son's kidnapping. When Marcy asked how Nora had coped with the loss she simply responded by saying. "If we focus on the regrets of the past we lose sight of the goals of the present." Apparently it had been a pre war saying.

The two had bonded over time after that. Making time at the end of the day to relax in Nora's room, and talk over a glass of wine. They had decided to be the greeters of Sanctuary opening day dressing in bikini tops, and skirts that were in Vault Tech colors with yellow 111's on the left breast. The only way in, and out of the neighborhood now was through the bridge which had been repaired to Nora's standards. The perimeter of the town had been enclosed by a wall that was a mixture of wood, concrete, steel panels, and whatever else the group could get their hands on.

Mamma murphy had agreed to take the first shift at the booth which gave Nora, and Marcy time to hang out at the gate. The first hour was uneventful just a few Wastelanders looking to get their rocks off. The second hour however proved to be more exciting. A Wastelander who was entering the city recognized Nora. "No way it's really you." Nora raised a eyebrow at the exclamation. "Have we met somewhere before." She highly doubted it as the only people she knew in the Waste were the Concord gang. "Not in person, but I have your poster." He turned reaching into his backpack, and produced a poster.

When he unfurled the poster it revealed a old photograph of Nora wearing the Nuka Cola girl space suit while sitting on a giant Nuka Cola bottle. During her time in law school Nora had taken up modeling on the side to help supplement her expenses. Sure her parents had a college fund set up for her, but that would have been quickly spent on living expenses, and text books. Nora never would have believed that her breakout poster would have survived two hundred years. Sure the edges were were a little worse for ware, but it looked good for being two hundred years old.

"I found it in a display case at the Super Duper Mart. Sure your chest has gotten a bit bigger, but your face is exactly the same." Nora sighed, and shook her head as Marcy giggled. "Yes that's me I've been in cryo stasis for the past two hundred years." The Wastelander beamed in excitement. Reaching into his pocket he produced a pen, and held it up next to the poster. "Would you mind signing it. You don't get to meet many celebrities in this time." Nora smiled, and took the poster. She had signed a few as a joke for some guys at law school, but to meet a actual fan was a treat for her.

"I don't suppose you have a marker. They work better on this kind of paper." The wastelander patted his pockets, and produced a marker for her. "I'll sign this if you'll do me a favor, and take one of the Empire's pamphlets to read over." The man eagerly nodded, and accepted his autograph. As far as Nora was concerned this was shapping up to be a interesting future.


End file.
